Event News

Weekly News From the President: 115th Congress Meets in Washington

The 115th Congress is underway. There are new appointments in the Senate and House on the committees that work on issues that affect community television. Here’s a quick look:

In the Senate Commerce Committee there are eight new members. In the Republican majority there is Jim Inhofe (Oklahoma), Mike Lee (Utah), Shelley Moore Capito (West Virginia) and Todd Young (Indiana). In the Democratic minority there is Tammy Baldwin (Wisconsin), Maggie Hassan (New Hampshire), Tammy Duckworth (Illinois) and Catherine Cortez Mastro (Nevada).

In the House Energy and Commerce Committee there are four new Republican members: Buddy Carter (Georgia), Ryan Costello (Pennsylvania), Tim Walberg (Michigan) and Mimi Walters (California). Democrats have not yet named new appointments to the Committee. Importantly for this committee, it is now chaired by Greg Walden (Oregon) and the Telecommunications subcommittee chair is now Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee).

During this Congress term it’s important for ACM members to be informed and active by contacting their Representatives and Senators; making sure PEG community television is not endangered by upcoming telecommunications reform.

Because of the importance of your involvement, ACM is increasing our Public Policy briefings to ensure you can participate. You can attend our one-hour phone briefings the First Thursday and Last Tuesday of each month at 4pm ET (1pm PT). Please let me know if you want the call-in coordinates and I will send you invites.

IS IT SPRING YET?
There will be several ACM regional conferences taking place in March that you should put in your calendar:

ACM West, March 8-10 in Fresno CA
ACM Central States, March 22-24 in Cincinnati OH
ACM Northwest, March 31-April 1 in Portland OR

As always, ACM members get registration discounts at the regional events! I hope to see you this Spring!